Meredith Updates 2019 Outlook

Meredith Corp. (MDP) said that it now expects adjusted earnings per share for 2019 to be in the range of $6.92 to $7.07, compared to the prior estimation of $6.89 to $7.31 per share.

Meredith now expects full-year fiscal 2019 earnings from continuing operations to a range of $172 million to $180 million or $2.07 to $2.25 per share, including a net after-tax charge of $32 million for special items in the first nine months. Previously it expected annual earnings from continuing operations to be in the range of $187 million to $207 million, or $2.40 to $2.82 per share, including a net after-tax charge for first half special items of $18 million.

Total company revenues for fiscal 2019 is now expected to be in the range of $3.12 billion to $3.16 billion, compared to its original range of $3.0 billion to $3.2 billion.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to report earnings of $3.88 per share and revenues of $3.08 billion for 2019. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

Apple Inc. is taking necessary precautions including Covid-19 testing for those employees returning to work at its headquarters in Silicon Valley, Bloomberg reported citing people familiar with the process. The company, which opened its main Apple Park office in May bringing back some hardware and software engineers, plans the gradual reopening of the building keeping the coronavirus safeguards.

A U.S. appeals court has blocked the sales of Bayer AG's dicamba-based Xtendimax in the United States. The three-judge panel in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled that the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) overstated the protections and substantially understated or ignored the risks related to the use of dicamba-based herbicides.

Tesla Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk has called for a breakup of Amazon after the online retail giant refused to publish an upcoming book about COVID-19. Writer Alex Berenson said on Twitter that Amazon refused to publish his booklet about the coronavirus as it did not comply with the company's guidelines. Berenson is a former New York Times reporter.